Comments

Denham, it's very interesting how your premise and your "alternatives" correspond with what Jacob Nielsen suggested in his "First Rule of Usability" (Alertbox, August 5, 2001, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010805.html): "To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior." ie. "Watch what people actually do." + "Do not believe what people say they do." + "Definitely don't believe what people predict they may do in the future."

I couldn't agree with you more Denham. And this is where i feel most KM solutions fail - in really understanding what users of the system really need and desire. Often, users themselves maynot even be conscious or aware of their needs - then how can cold questionnaires capture them. Openspace sessions and ethnographic studies and observations seem to be critical precedents in designing KM systems and solutions.